Barnett Surname

[campbell]

Just wear the Burnett tartan or a universal tartan (Black Watch, Royal Stewart, Hunting Stewart, Black Stewart, Pride of Scotland, Scottish National, etc.). If your name is Barnett you are automatically a member of Clan Burnett by surname. Anyone with the same surname of the chief is considered to be a member of the clan, you do not need to prove Scots heritage. There are many Irish peopele who do not Scots heritage or blood who wear a clan tartan on the basis of surname alone. For instance, the Irish Clan Kelly wears the MacDonald tartan.

There are also many African-Americans who wear clan tartans on the basis of surname without any Scots blood. For instance Douglas is a comman Black American surname and they wear the Douglas tartan. No proof of ancestry is needed. Your surname gives you the right and entitlement to wear the Clan Burnett tartan and badge.

Here is more information about your clan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Burnett

Here is a link that defines who is a member of a Clan:

http://www.clanchiefs.org/heraldry/w...ber-of-a-clan/

[toadinakilt]

Cool, thanks.

I did some digging around some of the links provided earlier, and discovered one Thomas Barnett Sr., who died in Cumberland County VA around 1771. That's as far back as the line goes, because there doesn't seem to be any other records aside from his will and a few deeds. Based on what his kids did, though, which was to move en masse to Mecklenburg County, NC, it seems probable that he was an Ulster Scot who immigrated in Virginia some time before his death. (Apparently a lot of VA Ulster Scots moved to Mecklenburg county around that same time... great minds think alike.)

That's as far as I can go right now. I'm pretty happy with that.

[escherblacksmith]

I think the key thing to remember is that the borders were a lot more fluid back then. So you could go to England or back to Scotland or to America or Back to Scotland. Barnett covered a lot of those grounds.

As a for instance, in my case, one chunk of my Barnett heritage is from Ireland, they are tied to Scotland as Barnett and Frayme.

So, until you can make the connections, don't get too hung up on the names.

[creagdhubh]

Hiya mate,

I'd pledge my allegiance to the Chief of Clan Burnett, if there is one and the line hasn't become dormant. I have consulted my trusty reference, Black's, Surnames of Scotland, and it notes that Barnett is indeed a variant of the surname Burnett-not sure if the name is of Highland or Lowland origin. I would wear that specific tartan as well-quite a handsome sett indeed. Good luck and keep the passion alive. Naturally, the preceding were all of my personal opinions.

The heart is strong, and the blood is Highland....

Yours aye,